San Francisco style 'parklet' for Kingsland gateway

The trendy inner city suburb of Kingsland could soon be adopting one of the more distinctive design features of the San Francisco streetscape - the parklet.

Seen as a respite from busy urban roads, the parklet offers a mini oasis of calm, usually with seats and plants, and can be used to differentiate one area from another.

Kingsland Business Society manager Christine Foley saw the popularity of parklets on a recent trip to San Francisco. "It was great to see how much locals used even the smallest of spaces" she said. "I am very enthusiastic about what this could do for our urban areas."

A new Urban Design Competition just launched in Kingsland is looking for a plan to redevelop the entrance to Kingsland village at the corner of Sandringham Road and New North Road and a parklet could be ideal.

The competition focuses on the pavement area outside the Trinity Church Hall on the corner of Sandringham Road and New North Road.

The brief is to design a gateway demarcation and "people place" where the transition of land use occurs going into the village.

Entries are expected to feature distinctive plantings and there is the possibility of parking curb extensions.

Entrants in the competition must be currently enrolled in a design or arts course at Unitec, or the School of Architecture & Planning at the University of Auckland or be a graduate landscape architect with less than three years since graduating.

The winning design will receive a cash prize of $600 and the opportunity for the plan to be further developed, subject to funding and feasibility.

Competition entries will exhibited in Kingsland’s Trinity Church Hall during the Auckland Heritage Festival from late September to early October.

A full design brief for the competition can be found on www.kingslandnz.com.

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